UCLA BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: Big issue could be facing Bruins

The walkway south of Pauley Pavilion sprouted with tents Tuesday, an early oddity forced by the scheduling of a mid-week game.

Students lined up to get prime seats to the only UCLA basketball action this week, a home tipoff against USC at 7 p.m. today.

In the spirit of promotion, the school has deemed this matchup a "Blue Out" - an extra reminder that all fans should, well, fill the stands with the team's colors.

The players, too, are decked out in bright, all-blue alternates - a rather stark deviation from the classic white home jerseys.

As to how the freshmen will handle the hype?

"They already know it's going to be an intense game," junior forward David Wear said. "They saw how it was against Arizona. That's a huge game for us each year too, and we were there (on the road). They handled it really well.

"They know what's at stake, what the crosstown rivalry means. This will make (the Trojans') whole season if they beat us."

The Trojans (8-13, 3-5) have one of the conference's worst offenses and are no better than middling on defense, but they've shown renewed energy under interim coach Bob Cantu. Two of their past three losses have been by no more than five points.

Against UCLA (16-5, 6-2), USC likely will deploy its two 7-footers, Dewayne Dedmon - if he's healthy - and Omar Oraby with the hopes of replicating some of ASU's success this past weekend. The Sun Devils blocked 10 shots against the Bruins, with 7-foot-2 center Jordan Bachynski accounting for six.

"If we get in the paint, we have to shot fake because they're going to try to block our shots if they watched the last tape," freshman guard Jordan Adams said. "We gave up a lot of blocked shots. Just little ball fakes."

Questionable health

UCLA's leading scorer Shabazz Muhammad fell ill with flu-like symptoms Monday night and was kept out of practice Tuesday. Head coach Ben Howland said the freshman's fever topped 101 degrees, but most of his teammates haven't even considered the possibility of him sitting.

Howland didn't want to commit to his return but hinted Muhammad would find a way to suit up.

"We'll see how he feels tomorrow," Howland said Tuesday. "I think it's too early to say, whether or not he'll play or how he'll do. But he's a tough kid.

"You see players raise their level sometimes when they feel a little under the weather."

Forward Travis Wear, who sat out UCLA's loss to Arizona State on Saturday with a concussion, participated in non-contact drills in practice. Howland expects him to be ready against USC but is waiting on medical clearance.

Miller's jersey

retirement

Reggie Miller's No. 31 jersey will be retired at halftime, the second of three such ceremonies this season. Miller, second on the NBA's all-time 3-point field goals list, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September and had his jersey retired by the Indiana Pacers in 2006.

Playing under Walt Hazzard, Miller finished his UCLA career (1984-87) with 2,095 career points - second in school history behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

"It's exciting," Howland said. "His sister went to USC. It's got all the L.A. media here tomorrow. I go back and look at his stats. He's arguably the best shooter to play the game."